he framework which defines the establishment, and that indivi dual entry into the power elite is a function of the various institutional entrance criteria.
As far back as 1913, historian Charles Beard argued that the Constitution of the United States was basically an economic document. To support his contention, he drew heavily on The 4Federalist, and other writings by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.
When the Constitution was being drafted, Madison pressed for congressional authority to grant corporate charters. This move was defeated, and authority to grant corporate charters remained with the states. The right of corporations to exist without undue state interference, however, was not yet estab lished. Two significant judicial cases established this right. In 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall classified corporate charters as contracts, and the provisions of such charters as obligations which state legislatures could not impair. In 1837, Chief Justice Taney determined that, where a corporate charter contained no express pr
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